Forged By Tuchanka
by Dan-E-2595
Summary: Elissa Shepard was born on 11th april, 2154 on the SSV Einstein, and spent her childhood on ships, then joined the alliance as soon a she was old enough right? Wrong, this tells the story of a different Shepard, a Shepard hardened by its unrelenting sun, weathered by its dry, dusty winds, of a Shepard forged by Tuchanka.
1. Chapter 1

Elissa Shepard had lived on ships for her whole life. She was born on the Systems Alliance ship, the SSV Einstein on 11th April 2154, and spent much of her early childhood moving from ship to ship. Her brother John was born when she was 4 years old, on the 8th of October 2158. When she was 5 she already knew she wanted to be like her parents and join the alliance, to be the captain of a ship, like her mother was going to be when Admiral Hackett was resigned, or promoted to admiral, and spent a lot of time learning about the basic alliance lessons. At 8 years old Elissa had decided, after her emerging biotic talents came to light, to be a vanguard and started to learn basic knife use and an unrefined, if effective form of close-quarters combat. By her ninth birthday she had been deemed proficient and already knew basic gun safety and mid-level biotic theory. On July 1st, her mother was transferred to the SSV Kilimanjaro, taking John with her, and stating that she'd be back to get them when her father's transfer went through at the end of the month, and that she was staying here to keep him occupied so he didn't get to lonely without her.

On the 27th of July, her future was warped, skewed and mangled till it was almost unrecognizable, when the drive core failed, the ship crashed and her father died, and in the ensuing panic nobody thought to notice that she wasn't on the life pods until they had been ejected. As such, the last thing she remembered before succumbing to her shock and panic was seeing the dusty brown planet, surface riddled with scars and craters as her ship hurtled uncontrollably towards it.

* * *

When Elissa regained consciousness she found herself parched, hungry and alone on a planet she didn't recognize, a dull ache all over, and a sharp pain in the ring and middle fingers that made her think it was broken, it seemed barren, empty ruins covered the landscape and a dry, dusty wind howled through the rubble. _Firstly_, Elissa decided, thinking back to 'basic Alliance survival skills Chapter 1'_; _**If you find yourself stranded, first, ensure that you have the necessities, food, water and shelter, food and water are standard in most emergency supplies.**

Digging through the rubble Elissa found the mangled remains of the mess hall, vomiting, then blocking out the acrid smell of burnt flesh emanating from within, and steeling her senses, Elissa made her way inside to search for supplies,

* * *

Approaching where she believed the supplies where Elissa found herself glad for her height as she crawled through a gap in the twisted metal, and stepped neatly past some overhead cables, _there! That's where the supplies should be!_ Elissa ran forward, clambering past the wreckage in front of it she made her way over_ and, _she thought losing her Momentary elation as she noticed what was in front of the supplies_. _Gagging, Elissa pushed the burning remains of crewman Lynch, _an Young man _she remembered, _with a kind smile that offset his loud Irish accent, that always gave her extra rations "you're a growing girl", he'd say, with a sky wink._ Elissa started to cry as she began to laboriously dragged the emergency supplies out of the wreckage, only to be confronted with the fact that she couldn't lift it over the beam behind her, and in a moment of angry desperation she screamed, a blue glow, flecked with darker shades pulsing out from her entire body, and the supply crate got suddenly lighter until she fell past the beam, the crate landing lightly on the ground by the hole in the wall of ruined metal and debris.

Once she got clear of the wreckage Elissa let go of the supplies, dropped to the floor and sobbed, dry heaving all the while, exhausted emotionally and physically from her accidental biotic display, she curled into a ball and fell asleep next to the supplies, the hot unyielding sun bearing down on her.

Elissa woke a few hours later, as the sun passed behind a ruin and the sudden change of light intensity startled her awake, as she rubbed her eyes she took note of the fact her skin was mildly burned, so, whilst thanking her parents for her dark bronze skin Elissa looked up, noticing the fading light with mild shock, _it must be almost night, how long is a day on this planet?_, and turned to take stock of the supplies whilst she still had time. Opening the box about laying the contents on the ground before her she had 40 liter bottles of water, _enough for about 33 days, _and enough assorted rations to last her for at least 3 months, as well as a that she could write her experiences in, to help stave off the maddening embrace of solitude. Drinking a liter of water immediately, and eating one and a half ration bars, she then Put the supplies back, and sealed the box, finding a small alcove in the rubble a meter or do off the ground '**shelter is just as important, if none is provided, then find done where, preferably raised off the ground, away from potential predators, and protected from the elements.' **_perfect_ Elissa climbed in, and succumbed to sleep once more deciding that she would write her experience in the datapad from now on, along with her level of supplies.

* * *

**Day 2**

**I spent most of my time on the ship today after my half a bar for breakfast to find some spare clothes (that weren't too damaged) in case something happens to the ones I'm wearing, and spent the rest of the day tearing some rough bandages out of my pants, I used four of the thin ones to bandage my hands according an old medical guide I read recently, I have never been happier that I inherited your work ethic. I hope you find me soon mom,**

**Elissa Shepard**

**Supplies**

**One Liter Bottles (Water) x 38**

**One Liter Bottles (Empty) x 2**

**Ration Bars (Assorted) x 119**

**Spare T-shirt (found on ship today) x 2**

**Spare Pants (ripped short) (found on ship today) x 1**

**Rough cloth bandages (wide) (ripped from pants) x 8**

**Rough cloth bandaged (thin) ripped from pants) x 4**

* * *

**Day 6**

**With nothing else to do, I've spent my time exercising, i can now run the perimeter of the wreckage twice without stopping if i pace myself, when I'm going full speed i make it a third of the way around, I will need to find a source of water by the end of the month however, if i want to survive. Mom, where are you?**

**Elissa Shepard**

**Supplies**

**One Liter Bottles (Water) x 33**

**One Liter Bottles (Empty) x 7**

**Ration Bars (Assorted) x 115**

**Spare T-shirt (found on ship today) x 2**

**Spare Pants (ripped short) (found on ship today) x 1**

**Rough cloth bandages (wide) (ripped from pants) x 8**

**Rough cloth bandaged (thin) ripped from pants) x 4**

* * *

**Day 14**

**I saw one of those weird space monkeys today, pyjaks I think they're called, next time one goes past I'm going to follow it, maybe I'll find some water, but for now I'm going to check the wreckage for something i should have looked for when I got the supplies out.**

**Elissa Shepard**

**Supplies**

**One Liter Bottles (Water) x 25**

**One Liter Bottles (Empty) x 15**

**Ration Bars (Assorted) x 107**

**Spare T-shirt (found on ship today) x 2**

**Spare Pants (ripped short) (found on ship today) x 1**

**Rough cloth bandages (wide) (ripped from pants) x 8**

**Rough cloth bandaged (thin) ripped from pants) x 4**

* * *

**Day 15**

**I found what I was looking for, had to smash the window to get into the med-bay though, which only happened when I got frustrated at the fact nothing I did seemed to apply enough force to break it and I wrapped my hand in what seemed to be a field of blue biotics, (which seemed a little darker than when I used them on the crate), but I got the medi-gel! Emergencies Only!**

**Elissa Shepard**

**Supplies**

**One Liter Bottles (Water) x 25**

**One Liter Bottles (Empty) x 15**

**Ration Bars (Assorted) x 107**

**Spare T-shirt (found on ship today) x 2**

**Spare Pants (ripped short) (found on ship today) x 1**

**Rough cloth bandages (wide) (ripped from pants) x 8**

**Rough cloth bandaged (thin) ripped from pants) x 4**

**Medi-Gel (For Emergencies Only) x 3**

* * *

**Day 32**

**I have just over 1 litre of water left and I haven't seen a pyjak since the first one a few weeks ago, and I need to find water soon or I'll never get back to mom, or john. Please, find me soon**

**Elissa Shepard**

**Supplies**

**One Liter Bottles (Water) x 1**

**One Liter Bottles (Empty) x 39**

**Ration Bars (Assorted) x 88**

**Spare T-shirt (found on ship today) x 2**

**Spare Pants (ripped short) (found on ship today) x 1**

**Rough cloth bandages (wide) (ripped from pants) x 8**

**Rough cloth bandaged (thin) ripped from pants) x 8**

******Medi-Gel (For Emergencies Only) x 3**

* * *

**Day 33**

**Finally a pyjak! I'm going to follow it now; hopefully I'll be able to find some water...**

* * *

Elissa Shepard jumps up, thankful for the fact that she might be able to find some more water now, grabbing as many empty bottles as she can comfortably carry she hurriedly clambers over the rocks, grateful for her now healed finger, still a bit sore, but unlikely to impede her progress, and heads off after the pyjak.

She almost loses track of it when it makes a sharp left, into some sort of old bunker, but she manages to follow it inside, finding the sudden change in light jarring, but as her eyes slowly adjust, she notes with rowing frustration that she can't see were the pyjak has gone, so she decides to look around.

A lot of the doors are blocked with rubble but she does find what seems to be a bathroom, and takes in the fact that there seems to be a set of sinks, hurriedly she runs over and turns one of the taps, it splutter, throwing out dust, then a trickle of rusty red water slowly comes out, managing to fill half a bottle before it stops, Elissa gets angry and her biotics lash out again, ripping the sinks and front layer from the wall then shredding them apart,_ dangerous, but they deem to act out with my emotions, maybe I can brute force my biotics? _She thinks, deciding that it's worth looking into and finally looking around at the series of pipes which seem o all lead out of one wall, following them out, she slowly makes her way, stopping occasionally to use her anger to reveal more pipes toward what seems to be a store room, a huge water purification system set into the back wall, which leads into a giant rusted set of containers.

The purification system broke long ago, and only one of the containers isn't full of holes, but it's worth a look. She carefully, not wanting to put any holes in the (mostly) undamaged container, climbs up one of the broken one next to it, and opens the lid to look inside, _about ¾ of the way full _she thinks as she looks inside, elation growing, and noting a ladder to get in and out Elissa drops inside.

Filling, and drinking one of the bottles immediately, she finally realizes that she doesn't know the way back to the ship, having failed to pay attention in the excitement of following the pyjak.

Elissa has found herself lost, and now that she has water, she has no food...


	2. Chapter 2

In the following week and a half Elissa grew hungry, having not had the foresight to bring some rations with her, and she was getting desperate, to the point where she had begun to search for pyjak, she had hopes of killing one for food. She would survive on this rock, until somebody came for her, or she died of natural causes, she would not be beaten by heat-baked earth and rubble.

Quickly, Elissa grew to realise that she needed a weapon of some sort, so, searching through the piles of rubble she pulls out a metallic rebar, quite short, but it seems large to her childish form. With her current energy levels, she can only just wield the think, and awkwardly at that, its uneven weight distribution throwing her balance off considerably. So, with a few scant hours of getting used to swinging it Elissa found a shady spot, sat down, and waited.

Elissa sat there, on a (relatively) comfortable pile of rubble for 3 more days, catching scant hours of sleep whenever she thought that she could risk it until she finally saw a pyjak run past, leaping to her feet in a sudden surge of adrenaline, she ran after it, sprinting at full speed, which in her weakened state wasn't anywhere near fast enough, she slowly, gradually fell behind until she decided to try to control her biotic with brute force.

As the pyjak began to climb the pile of rubble roughly 34 meters ahead of her Elissa began to collect all the anger, all the frustration and desperation and focus them on a single thought, to catch that pyjak, and with a sensation as though her entire being was being compressed to a single point in between her eyes the world rushed past her in a matter of moments and then, pain, _my wrist_, she thought,cradling it to her chest, and ripping a strip of cloth from the bottom of her top with which to wrap it, using her rebar as a splint to hold it steady, once it had been wrapped she looked at the pyjak, its neck broken from the sudden application of 150N of force applied there in a single instant and the full realization of what she had done hit her. Collapsing to her knees, she curled into a ball, and sobbed.

* * *

Half an hour later an emotionally drained Elissa Shepard, whose tears had gradually slowed and stopped stood up, grabbed the dead pyjak by the legs, and purposefully set off toward the bunker she currently took residence in, dragging the pyjak behind.

Eventually, after arriving at the bunker and realizing that she couldn't eat the rubbery skin of the pyjak and spending 20 minutes searching through the bunker before eventually finding a loose piece of sharp metal in a pile of scrap, _reasonably clean_ she thought, _I should be able to skin it with this _and making her way back to the dead pyjak she pulled it outside and lay it on a large flat rock, thinking back to one of her old survival books, which she remembered distinctly, (her father had forbidden her from reading it when she was still seven, because it contained instructions on how to skin and clean animals) she began to follow the instruction that she could still remember

**One, lay your kill on a flat surface, head at the top, with a slight vertical incline. **_Check, _idly, she noticed that it was female, _good, that will make it easier_

**Two, starting from the bottom of tail, make a cut just under the skin, and work carefully up the chin. **Elissa, hands shaking, slowly, hesitantly made the first cut and began to work the makeshift knife up towards the chin biting back tears all the while.

**Three, cut down the inside of each leg to the joint above the hoof, or foot. ** Following the instructions Elissa vaguely realized that her hand had stops shaking, she was so engrossed in the task at hand.

**Four, Is the animal in question is reasonably large? **_Yes,_ **if so, using your hand, work your way around the body between the flesh and the skin to work the skin off the body.** Elissa did so; finding she was growing nauseous at the feeling of the slippery bloody flesh beneath her hand, but holding back her revulsion she pulled the rubbery pyjak skin away from the corpse, finding it quite light she used a little water to wipe the blood off the inner surface, and put it to one side.

Now, she realized with a growing sense of revulsion, she needed to clean it; thinking back on the rest of the chapter se began to systematically follow these instructions as well,

**To clean an animal, make a cut just in front of the anus and sex organs, opening up the stomach cavity, past the breast bone. Be careful not to cut deep enough to slice any of the organs. **Carefully, with hands that were shaking again she made the cut, almost cutting into the organs several times, and beginning to cry once more.

**Next, cut around the anus and free up the sex organs, tying off any tubes that leak wastes.** Gagging, she began to make the cut, before realizing he had nothing to tie it with and cutting of some of her hair to use has thread. Elissa made the cut, quickly attempting to tie off a slowly leaking tube with hair and failing; she tried again using a small bunch of hair, _Success! _ She exclaimed mentally as the leak stopped.

**Now, cut through the diaphragm and reach up, finding the wind pipe and gullet. Cut these and pull them out with most of the rest of the internal organs following along.** Elissa began to dry heave as she performed this step, her hands covered in blood, and with a sharp pull on the cut pipe, she began to remove organs.

**Pull everything out, and leave it below the animal. **She did so, getting this step out of the way quickly, and efficiently.

**Put all the edible organs in a separate container so they won't get contaminated. If some meat has been contaminated, it will turn rancid fast. If it does, cut out the bad section along with any badly scarred tissue or ulceration. Use your eyes and your nose. If it looks, tastes, or smells bad, cut it out. **She had no containers she remembered, and she didn't know what organs where edible, so she carefully picked up the organs and carried them away, burying them in a loose pile of rubble nearby.

* * *

Elissa used her piece of metal to cut the pyjak into chunks, a rough approximation of steak, as best as she could with her unskilled hands, bracing herself she brought a piece to her lips and found herself unable to eat it, it had a rubbery texture like that of calamari on earth. Deciding that she would try to cook she placed a large flat piece of metal (one of the darker pieces) out in the sun, and put her meat on a counter in the bunker and set out to look for containers.

A few hours later, as the sun was quite high in the sky, it looked to be a few hours past midday as she carried a few pieces of meat outside, having found no containers and used the now hot piece of metal to cook the meat, about 15 minutes later she took the meat off the metal and tried to eat it again, finding it much more palatable she ate two of her chunks of meat ravenously, before slowing down on the last piece, eating it slowly over the next few hours, until, as it began to get dark she finished it off before heading inside and falling asleep.

* * *

Three days later Elissa was cursing the absence of a suitable container for her pyjak, eat, she had woken up that morning and found that almost half of her supply had spoiled, so, Elissa began to search through some of the unexplored rooms in the bunker hoping to find one.

Elissa never found a container, but on the fourth day of her search she did find what looked to be an old kitchen, the food long since spoiled, but in the top cupboards, in the right hand side (which she could only reach by climbing on the counter, careful not to hurt her already sprained wrist where she found a large open-topped box, filled with a white crystalline solid. Dipping her finger in the box and bringing it to her lips she recognized the distinctive taste immediately, _salt, _she realized; _now I can preserve some of my food, but I will need to drink more water to keep from getting too dehydrated._ With the low number of pyjak in the region it was an excellent find she decided, rubbing the last of her unspoiled meat with some of the salt to keep it edible for longer.


End file.
